[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 31, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 5--HONORING THE LIFE OF PERCY LAVON 
 JULIAN, A PIONEER IN THE FIELD OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND THE FIRST AND 
ONLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHEMIST TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY 
                              OF SCIENCES

  Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Lugar, Mr. 
Lieberman, and Mr. Bayh) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                             S. Con. Res. 5

       Whereas Percy Julian was born on April 11, 1899 in 
     Montgomery, Alabama, the son of a railway clerk and the first 
     member of his family to attend college;
       Whereas Percy Julian graduated from DePauw University in 
     1920 and received a M.S. degree from Harvard University in 
     1923 and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in 1931;
       Whereas, in 1935, Dr. Julian became the first to discover a 
     process to synthesize physostigmine, the drug used in the 
     treatment of glaucoma;
       Whereas Dr. Julian later pioneered a commercial process to 
     synthesize cortisone from soy beans, enabling the widespread 
     use of cortisone as an affordable treatment for arthritis;
       Whereas Dr. Julian was the first African-American chemist 
     elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973 for his 
     lifetime of scientific accomplishments, held over 130 patents 
     at the time of his death in 1975, and dedicated much of his 
     life to the advancement of African Americans in the sciences; 
     and
       Whereas Dr. Julian's life story has been documented in the 
     Public Broadcasting Service NOVA film ``Forgotten Genius'': 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That the Congress honors the life of Percy Lavon 
     Julian, a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry and the 
     first and only African-American chemist to be inducted into 
     the National Academy of Sciences.

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